On the Potential of Design Rationale for Ecodesign

Abstract

Ecodesign tools have limited performance, mainly for helping designers in early-design. Design rationale has been explored in many domains, but not yet in ecodesign. The result of a first investigation on design rationale of environmental impacts is presented. The objective is to track the design rationale of the design process and to relate these choices to the environmental impacts of the product, in order to conclude about the usefulness of DR to a redesign. A simple case study done with engineering students is commented.